Consumer protection refers to the laws designed to aid retail consumers of goods and services that have been improperly manufactured, delivered, performed, handled, or described. Such laws provide the retail consumer with additional protections and remedies not generally provided to merchants and others who engage in business transactions, on the premise that the consumers do not enjoy a sufficient bargaining position with respect to the businessmen with whom they deal and therefore should not be strictly limited by the legal rules that govern recovery for damages among businessmen. The overarching goal is to protect individuals and the interest of the public in general from unfair and misleading activity in business and commerce (such as false advertising and deceptive trade practices) and scams perpetrated by criminals (such as identity theft and pyramid schemes) that harm a substantial number of consumers.
Spencer is a village located in the northwestern part of the Town of Spencer in Marathon County, Wisconsin. It is part of the Wausau, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,932 at the 2000 census. The village, which lies between two marshes (Spencer Marsh to the northwest and McMillan Marsh to the southeast) was founded in 1874 at a branch on the Wisconsin Central Railway. Today it sits at the crossroads of Wisconsin Highway 13 and 98, as well as serving as the terminus of several Marathon County trunk highways. Spencer lies about 8 miles northeast of Marshfield, along Highway 13.